The British car industry was dealt another blow this week as newly-released supercar, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, was described as ‘diabolical’ by journalist Jeremy Clarkson. In a Sunday Times review Clarkson noted that ‘typically British engineering’ had seen the makers overstretch themselves by adding features such as a rudimentary flight mode, but fail to install sat-nav or an MP3 player, before ‘delusionally’ targeting the car at the one-parent family market.

‘This is what happens when you put a former chimney sweep in charge of high-performance automotive design,’ claimed Clarkson, ‘and after hearing him speak, I’m not sure this guy’s even British.’